More from Beyond the Classroom

St Edward’s has an outstanding reputation as one of the top cricket playing schools in the country.

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he Cricket Club is open to all years in the School, and can put out thirteen cricket teams for a block fixture. With six pitches, six state of the art artificial nets, four indoor nets and a Merlyn spin bowling machine, (and the use of the Nuffield Health Sports Centre for integrated cricket-specific physio and core stability programmes); St Edward’s facilities are exceptional.

‘Upper One’ and the Martyrs Pavilion (designed by John Pawson) make for one of the finest settings for 1st XI cricket in the country, and it is easy to see why Gloucestershire CCC youth academy train here at St Edward’s. This partnership with Gloucestershire is hugely beneficial for the School, and this year we have five of our elite players in their county set up. In addition there are boys who play for numerous county academy sides, including Hampshire and Sussex.

In recent years, we have had several boys picked to play in the Bunbury Festival for the South and West XI. Miles Hammond was recently picked for the England U19 team, participating in the World Cup, and in 2017, Ben Charlesworth toured Sri Lanka with the England U17 team. Current captain, Brandon Allen, played for Gloucestershire CCC’s 1st XI in a pre-season match in March 2017 against an Oxford University MCCU side. There have been two recent O.S.E. who have gone on to play the game professionally: Miles Hammond for Gloucestershire CCC; and Calvin Dickinson has signed for Hampshire CCC.

In April 2017, it was announced that the 2016 1st XI captain, AJ Woodland, had been named as the Wisden Schools Cricketer of the Year, following a season in which he scored 1,207 runs, breaking multiple school records along the way. Current Lower Sixth pupil, Jamie Curtis, was also named by Wisden as the second highest wicket taker in the country in the 2016 season.

The 1st XI has won the John Harvey Cup (a league featuring Marlborough, Radley, Cheltenham, Bradfield and Winchester) for a record four years in succession (2013-2016). In 2016, the 1st XI won 15 matches in total, retained the John Harvey Cup and were privileged to play against the Oxford University MCCU at The Parks. This fixture was repeated in March 2017, with the Ist XI winning the match by 5 wickets, likely the first school side to do so. The Cricket Club tours internationally and has recently visited South Africa, Sri Lanka, Spain and Barbados.

The Cricket Club benefits from first-rate coaching staff, which includes former First Class cricketers, Minor Counties players and superbly knowledgeable amateurs. Crucially, the enthusiasm for cricket is shared across all levels making it an important facet of sport at St Edward’s.